When Netflix announced the third season of “Blood & Water”, one of the entertainment writers on the team quipped about who our Parkhurst favourites were going to find now.
And we all chuckled on the group chat because the first two seasons were monopolised by Puleng Khumalo (Amamkele Qamata) hellbent on proving that Fikile Bhele (Khosi Ngema) was in fact her sister, who was abducted at birth.
Tenacious and foolish, she has been in trying to prove this. And, in season two, she put the two of them in some precarious situations.
Jokes aside, though, this series, which is produced by Gambit Films, will go down in SA’s history annals as one of the most successful local shows.
And this is rare for a homegrown series, especially when it comes to matching the success of the first season, two times over.
But “Blood & Water” is proof that it is achievable.
This season has already been getting the stamp of approval of Mzansi on social media platforms.
Of course, this is unsurprising. When it comes to the casting, script and directing, “Blood & Water” tick the boxes and then some.
This season picks up from the aftermath of all the fallouts at the end of the second instalment.
Fikile’s mother has gone missing. Puleng’s father, unable to deal with his hand in the events that led to Fikile’s kidnapping, moves out.
Karabo “KB” Molapo (Thabang Molaba) remains suspicious of his wealthy parents - Matla Molapo (Sello Maake Ka-Ncube) and Lisbeth (Sonia Mbele), involvement.
Meanwhile, the strait-laced Wade Daniels (Dillon Windvogel) grapples with being a teenager and the raging hormones that come with it. And having Puleng as his girlfriend isn’t helping ease the pressure.
As for Principal Daniels (Sandi Schultz), she’s feeling the heat after all the shenanigans involving drugs and embezzlement at the school.
Let’s just say, she rules while under the glare of watchful eyes.
As for our rich pretty boy Chris Ackerman (Arno Greeff), who is having a blast flirting with a coy Wendy Dlamini (Natasha Thahane), he finds himself in a bit of a financial conundrum this season.
His parents decide to cut him off after he splurges on a very lavish yacht party.
But that is the least of his worries, he is being forced to repeat Grade 11 - something his friends waste little time teasing him about.
Reece van Rensburg (Greteli de Swardt) still has that chutzpah, even if she is on janitor duties in between classes. However, she hasn’t completely hung up her drug-dealing side-line hustle.
Meanwhile, Tahira Kahn (Mekaila Mathys), the goody-two-shoes head-girl, has fallen out of favour with her peers. Aside from being trolled on social media, she finds herself relieved of her responsibilities. The struggle is real in the world of money and influence.
While councillor Janet Nkosana (Zikhona Sodlaka) is in witness protection with her son, Lisbeth is back in her son’s life and she is wasting little time in flexing her authority.
There’s an unsettling menace in her body language and it is inherent from episode one.
New faces are par for the course with a new season. I think streamers are going to really embrace Puleng’s cousin Lunga (Mpho Sibeko) as a carefree, enigmatic personality.
The third season of “Blood & Water” offers another tangled web of lies with plenty of twists to keep you glued to the screen.
“Blood & Water” season 3 is streaming on Netflix.